Mellon-nin
by DeathBySpoon09
Summary: Aragorn has recently died, and Gimli is no longer a young dwarf. The time has finally come for Legolas to heed the call of the sea and sail for the Undying Lands. He will not leave without his dearest friend though, despite Gimli's misgivings. They say you cannot win an argument against a dwarf, but there is much to be said for the stubbornness of elves...


Standing on the beach, Legolas shaded his eyes with a slender hand to watch as the sun turned amber and began to sink lower toward the horizon. They would be sailing by starlight, which would be all the easier with the stars to guide them. A few paces away on the sand lay a modestly-sized boat crafted from smooth ash wood. It was a labor of love, one which Legolas had gladly devoted himself to this past month. As carefully as he had worked to ensure the boat would be seaworthy, there had also been just the slightest hint of haste to the nimble grace of his fingers. Although it had been only a few months since the death of Aragorn II Elessar, King of Gondor, to an elf time passes quickly. He would risk no chance that the unthinkable should happen before the boat was ready. He would sail to Valinor with Gimli, son of Gloin by his side, or not at all.

The aged dwarf stood a few paces away up the beach, a half-smile hidden beneath his snowy white beard. "Lad, you've had some strange ideas in all the years that I've known you, but this one is by far the strangest. Have I told you that?"

With a light laugh, Legolas turned from the sea and nodded. "Only as many times as there are leaves on a tree, Gimli." His expression suddenly became more serious. "This will work, I am certain of that."

"Are you?" The dwarf countered, as stubborn as ever. "I won't have you risking your own right to enter that land, even if it means we must part now on these shores." To emphasis his point, Gimli thumped the butt of his walking-stick down, making a small bowl in the sand.

Frowning, Legolas walked up to Gimli and sank to one knee in front of him. Normally, Gimli hated when the elf did that; he interpreted it as a teasing of his shorter height. There was no jest in the normally merry blue eyes though. "Gimli, you are the lock-bearer, elf-friend, and member of the Fellowship of the Ring. I warrant that you are just as worthy if not more to dwell in Valinor than half the folk already within that realm. More than that, you are _my_ friend, and I love you as a brother. If that is not just cause for the Valar to grant you entry to the Blessed Realm, then I do not wish to live in such an unjust place myself."

Throughout this whole speech, Gimli looked upon his friend stoically. The passage of time had weathered his face and whitened his beard, and yet Legolas looked as young as the day he had first laid eyes upon him. Still, there was an age in his eyes that spoke of just how far they had both come together. "Well..." he finally said, after a long moment. "...I don't know about being stuck with you until the end of my days...but I would very much like to look upon the Lady Galadriel again." He spoke lightly in his deep, baritone voice, but the brightness of his eyes showed just how touched he was by Legolas's words. "Very well lad, let us set out to the sea!"

With a smile, Legolas nodded and rose to his feet. Leading the dwarf to their little craft, he helped him over the side and seated him in the center. Stepping out again for the last time onto the shores of Middle-Earth, he looked just once for a moment at the tree-line above...then turned and pushed the boat out into the surf. Leaping up over the side, he rejoiced at the cool feel of the water soaking through his boots and leggings. He was at last to answer the call which had been awoken in his heart so long ago at Pelagir during the War of the Ring. While Aragorn still lived, he had been unwilling to depart this land that had bore him. Now though, with Gimli by his side, the open ocean unfolded before them into the West.

Releasing the single sail, Legolas also loosened the braids that held back his hair, allowing the breeze to carry the golden strands in waving streams. Gimli rolled his eyes, then dragged a hand through one of the braids in his beard, freeing it as well.

"What a sight we shall make eh?" said Gimli, narrowing his cloudy eyes against the last light of the sunset. "An elf and a dwarf sailing up to the shores of the Blessed Realm, as bold as brass!"

Dropping a hand over the bow to let the cool seawater run between his fingers, Legolas laughed aloud and looked back at his friend. "What a sight indeed." Gimli smiled, and overhead a gull cried


End file.
